Nigeria marks Global Media and Information Literacy week in Abuja

Nigerian Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris will on Friday 25th October 2024 at the Conference Centre of the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, declare open a symposium in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.

According to statement released by the Ministry, this symposium jointly organised by the International Media and Information Literacy Institute (IMILI), the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation and the UNESCO, Abuja office.
The Symposium themed; Empowering Nigerians through Digital Literacy: Navigating the New Media Frontiers for Inclusive Public Information”, is part of activities lined up to celebrate this year’s Global Media and Information Literacy Week.

The United Nations has set aside October 24th to 31st annually as the Global Media and Information Literacy (GMIL) week to mobilize stakeholders and raise awareness on the need for a media-literate society and to track the progress made since the proclamation of the Global Media Information Literacy Week in 2011.

Other activities lined up to celebrate the week include a workshop for undergraduate students of Mass Communication and NYSC members around Abuja, training sessions, lectures, and road walks by partners and Stakeholders across the country.
The major aim of these events is to promote digital literacy as a fundamental skill for all Nigerians enabling the effective navigating the digital Media landscape and encourage responsible information dissemination and consumption amongst all age groups.

The workshops will also address transformative impact of emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence and the new generation of digital content creators on the production and dissemination of public-interest information, highlighting both opportunities and risks.

All stakeholders, including government agencies, educational institutions, media organizations, and civil society groups, etc, are all enjoined to be part of this important event. Let us work together to create a digital landscape that is conducive to public interest information and that serves the needs of our citizens.
It is important to state that this year’s celebration of Global Media and Information Literacy Week and Feature Conference will be hosted by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from the 30th – 31st October, 2024.

And it will feature the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris as one of the Speakers at the High-Level Ministerial Panel Session, holding on the 30th October on the theme “The New Digital Frontiers of Information: Media Information Literacy for Public Interest Information.

It will be recalled that Nigeria hosted the 11th edition in 2022, which has been adjudged by UNESCO as the best organised in the history of the Global MIL Week.